29th April 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

Today (29th April) is International Dance Day / World Dance Day.
- The day was introduced in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute.
- The date was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, who was born in 1727, a French dancer and ballet master and a great reformer of dance.
Today is the "Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare".
- This day is officially recognised by the United Nations (UN) and has been celebrated since 2005.
Myanmar has banned all logging operations in the country's forests as part of its efforts to tackle deforestation.
- Myanmar had earlier banned the export of raw timber logs in 2014 to boost its own production and slow deforestation.
- Myanmar Forest Ministry data has revealed that the country's forest cover fell to 47% in 2010 from 58% in 1990.
Belgium's Health minister Maggie De Block has revealed plans to distribute anti-radiation iodine pills to 11 million Belgian citizens in case of nuclear accidents.
- Recently, Belgium's Tihange 2 and Doel 3 reactors resumed service after being shut following signs of metal degradation.
The US Congress has formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the Congress on June 8, during his visit to the country.
India extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of 1 billion US dollars to Mongolia.
- The LoC was extended after delegation-level bilateral talks between the Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh and Mongolian Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren in New Delhi.
- The two countries also agreed to exchange sentenced persons.
- Important Points to Note :
- - Lundeg Purevsuren was on a three-day state visit to India from 27 April to 29 April 2016.
  - This visit was a part of the intensified bilateral exchanges following the upgrade of bilateral relations during Modi's visit.

MOUs

India and Papua New Guinea sign 4 agreements including agriculture and health, today, the second and concluding day of President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to this Pacific island-nation.
- The MOUs signed were :
- - A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India's ministry of health and family welfare and Paua New Guinea's ministry of health and HIV/AIDS for a broad range of cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical science.
  - A MoU between the Papua New Guinea government and the Export Import Bank of India for a $100-million credit line for development of infrastructure in the island-nation.
  - The third MoU was between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and PNG University of Technology, Lae, for cooperation in agricultural research.
  - The fourth MoU was signed between the governments of India and Papua New Guinea for establishing of India-Papua New Guinea Centre for Excellence in IT.
  - Important Points to Note :
  - - Papua New Guinea is the largest of all the Pacific island-nations.
  - Mukherjee's visit is the first ever presidential visit from India to this country.

National Affairs

Nagaland’s capital Kohima was today declared ‘smoke-free’.
- Important Points to Note :
- - Nagaland is the fourth in India to be declared "smoke-free".
  - Chandigarh was declared the first smoke-free city in 2007.
  - It was followed by Kottayam in Kerala and Shimla.
  - In 2010, Sikkim was declared the first smoke-free state in India.
  - In 2014 Himachal Pradesh became the second.
Indian Railways today announced that the Railway passengers now can cancel their confirmed train tickets on phone.
- The passenger has to dial 139 giving details of the confirmed ticket for canceling it and the sender will get a one-time password (OTP).
- Passenger can claim refund from Passenger Reservation System counter upon revealing the OTP.
Minister of State for Culture and Tourism, Mahesh Sharma today announced that a memorial for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, depicting his life and freedom struggle, would be built in Delhi.
The Border Security Force (BSF) has announced plans to unveil a 350-feet-high national flag, the tallest in the country, near the Attari-Wagah border by January 2017.
- It can be seen both from Lahore as well as Amritsar.
- Note : The current record is held by the flag on top of a 293-feet-high mast in Jharkhand's Ranchi.
Gujarat Government is going to issue an ordinance on 1st May to provide 10% reservation in higher education and government jobs to economically backwards of higher caste (with annual income below 6 lakh).
- This will be on top of the 49% reservation currently available for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes.

Business & Economy

The finance ministry has agreed to increase interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.8 per cent from the 8.7 per cent decided by it earlier.
In a first, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has made public direct tax-related data including the total number of taxpayers in India and income disclosed in tax returns by various categories of taxpayers from 2000-01 to 2014-15.
- The data further includes information on the number of PAN holders in the country and state-wise break-up of direct tax collection.
Maharashtra contributed the highest (₹2.77 lakh crore) among India’s states and union territories to the total national direct tax collection of ₹6.96 lakh crore in 2014-15.
- Maharashtra was followed by Delhi and Karnataka, with direct tax collections of ₹91,248 crore and ₹60,595 crore respectively.
Power shortage in India stood at 2.1% in 2015-16, the lowest ever in a single year.

New Appointments

Senior IPS officer Surender Kumar Bhagat was appointed as the Director General (DG) of Railways Protection Force (RPF).
South Sudan’s rebel Chief Riek Machar made as Vice president of the Country.

Awards & Honors

Pakistani activist Tabassum Adnan won the prestigious Nelson Mandela – Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016.

Science & Technology

IT firm Infosys has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) platform called Mana.
- Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, at the Infosys Confluence conference, said that the platform will help clients drive automation for repetitive tasks and lower cost of maintenance.
- Mana involves three main tools, they are :
- - Infosys Information Platform,
  - Infosys Automation Platform and
  - Infosys Knowledge Platform.
China has successfully launched the Kunpeng-1B sounding rocket from a launch pad in Danzhou City in the southern Chinese Hainan Province.
- The research rocket, which is due to take measurements in the upper atmosphere and help with high-speed flight and space tourism research, was launched by China’s National Space Science Center (NSSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Sports

India's first and only individual Olympic gold-medallist, Celebrated shooter Abhinav Bindra has been roped in as Goodwill ambassador of India's Olympic contingent alongside Bollywood star Salman Khan.
- Earlier, the IOA appointed actor Salman Khan as the first goodwill ambassador.
- Note : The IOA is looking to appoint three more ambassadors, with Sachin Tendulkar and AR Rahman being under consideration.
Saina Nehwal enters semifinals of Asia Badminton Championships at Wuhan in China.
In a bid to promote Golf tourism, the Karnataka tourism department will now offer incentives to investors aiming to develop golf courses in the state. T
- he long-term objective for this will be getting more visits from international golfers and being equipped to host major golf tournaments.

29th April 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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